


Assigned Seats

by YetIWait



Category: Rise (TV 2018)
Genre: English class, M/M, from my tumblr, yetiwait
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-04 06:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14587092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YetIWait/pseuds/YetIWait
Summary: Where in another universe, Simon and Jeremy meet in Mr. Mazzu's English Class.Warning: Some Homophobia and Internal Homophobia





	1. Chapter 1

Here’s a Siremy fic I wrote! I thought I’d post it because you guys seemed to like my prompts. Basically another version of how Siremy could’ve met. ;) Mr Mazzu’s English Class  
Part 1/? Words: 1500-1600 Warnings: Some Internalized Homophobia

* * *

 

Upon entering the classroom for the first time, Simon was ushered to a seat assigned by the teacher. Everyone was. He dreaded assigned seating because of not being able to sit with Gwen, Lilette, or anyone he knew.

_At least it’s English class,_ Simon thought, knowing it would be relatively easy to get through unlike some other class he needed help with.

He dropped his backpack on the floor next to his seat to await whoever would be sitting next to him. He was in front of the rest of the class, meaning about no one else had arrived yet. So, the long string of people began coming in. The first person to enter was not Gwen or Lilette like he hoped but a boy he didn’t know. The boy’s hair was somewhat sandy, but also auburn-brown. To be clear, Simon didn’t know how to describe it but the first thought he had about the boy’s hair, the boy’s face, wasn’t something he wanted to have hanging over him the rest of the year. It was more than handsome, Simon thought.

“Hey,” the boy greeted, walking over to the chair. “I’m Jeremy.” He took the seat next to Simon, setting down his backpack while still facing him.

“Simon,” Simon replied, gazing at him for another moment before realizing, _no one stares this long_. He pushed his gaze back to his orange notebook, which he hastily opened to the first page. It was blank and ready to be written and doodled on.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jeremy smiled, forcing Simon to look back one more time. Jeremy’s smile was one that even reached his eyes and Simon allowed himself a moment longer to keep his eyes on him.

Although, now the teacher was jumping to start the lesson and there were no more exchanged words. “I’m Mr. Mazzu,” the teacher introduced himself, and the lesson took off from there. Or at least it was a review for the upcoming weeks.

* * *

 

Another week had passed, the first week of school finished, the second one ending. It was Friday and the two boys hadn’t exchanged many words but Mr. Mazzu had began assigning acts and scenes of Romeo and Juliet to read for homework.“Have you already read this week’s homework?” Jeremy asked at the end of the lesson.

“No,” Simon hated to say it but he already didn’t enjoy the old play, to his own surprise. “The language’s somewhat difficult to understand.” He shrugged, reaching for his backpack.

“I can help you study,” Jeremy suggested, “I’ve already finished the assigned reading, but I haven’t gotten around to the homework if you want to do it together. I can also help you read it though.”

“Um,” Simon stared at his brown shoes, trying to avoid Jeremy’s eyes. He dreaded knowing how he felt around Jeremy, or at least subconsciously, and he didn’t want to admit that he liked it yet, “sure, I mean, I’ll have to figure out when I can, but yeah.”

“You don’t seem pretty confident if you can find a time,” Jeremy faltered as well, attempting to get Simon to look up at him again.

“I mean, I’ll have to ask my mother,” Simon finally met Jeremy’s piercing eyes again. “And I’m auditioning for the school musical in a few weeks so I’ll be practicing. I don’t know if I can find a time then…”  
“What about Saturday? I can give you my number,” Jeremy asked hopefully, seeing if he could get around all the excuses.

“Uh, sure,” he answered finally. He handed his phone over also, Jeremy putting his number in.

“Well, I’ll ask,” Simon nodded. “Tonight, I’ll ask.” Jeremy nodded happy that things were going smoothly. He led the way out of the room with Simon trailing behind him.

* * *

 

“Lilette!” Simon called in the school courtyard. She was always difficult to find after school and as he always drove her home or to work, he wandered around aimlessly for a good fifteen minutes. “We need to come up with a spot to meet,” he sighed, finding her. “Like my parking spot.” He said, with a near dead-pan expression.

“I’ll think about it,” she smiled. “But now, we need to go.” She rushed Simon without another word to the car, walking in front of him, “I’ve got piles of homework.”

He nodded while unlocking the vehicle, Lilette hopping into the passenger’s seat. “What’s up with you?” Lilette asked, swinging her backpack on the floor.

“Not much,” Simon replied. He held off his wish to immediately tell Lilette about Jeremy. “But I heard Mr. Mazzu, my English teacher, is going to direct theater this year.” He told her casually. “Are you going to audition then?”

“I don’t know, Simon,” Lilette dragged her answer out as brushed her hair behind her ear. “I have work, and homework. I just… don’t know if I have the time.”

“But if you auditioned and got a role, we could run lines and rehearse together. We never see each other outside of the car, I mean, we don’t have any classes together.”

“Maybe.” She said with a definite tone, looking out the window. “Anything else going on?"

He pretended to think for a moment. This time he would bring up Jeremy. “Well, there’s boy in Mr. Mazzu’s class. And you know we’re assigned seats, so we were assigned next to each other. He asked me if I wanted to study for our homework on Saturday, Romeo and Juliet… The first two acts.”

“Are you going to?” Lilette asked, clearly not understanding how enormous this felt to Simon.

“I think so,” Simon replied. “He’s really nice, smart. He’s already ahead in the class I feel like.”

Lilette nodded. “What’s his name?”

“Jeremy,” Simon answered.

“Is he auditioning for the musical too?” Lilette joked.

Simon’s face tensed at the thought, knowing he mentioned it. His past relaxed expression turned rigid and anxious. “I don’t know! Maybe he is.”

Turning into the driveway of her home, she finally answered, “Simon, it was a joke, but it’d be cool if he was… Thanks for the ride Simon.” Lilette grabbed her bag wile tossing him a concerned look before she plastered on a smile, “See you tomorrow.”

When the door shut with a thud, he exhaled, slouching with his hands still on the wheel, frustrated. He pulled into reverse, drive, and left the neighborhood to return home.

He thought of why he was worried his mother would say no to inviting Jeremy over. _Wouldn’t she be happy? A boyfriend… No, a_ boy friend _. You’ve only just met him, he’s probably straight. You’re straight. You’re overthinking this thing way too much!_ He corrected himself, feeling himself become tenser by the moment.

It was a quick drive home due to him speeding. He was there within five minutes, a drive that would usually take ten. He propped his schoolbag on his shoulder and hurried into the front room. “Mom? I’m home!” He called, pulling his shoes off.

“Hey Simon,” his mother greeted from upstairs.

No _w or never,_ he thought, knowing well he’d never ask if he didn’t force himself to now. He wanted to, but he knew he’d stop himself later if he let himself have the chance.

“Hey, mom?” Simon yelled while climbing the stairs to meet her. Finding her just up the stairs, he asked, “Can I study with a friend Saturday night? For English?”

“Sure, why would I have a problem with that?” She asked, thinking there’d be more to the question. “Who is it, Gwen, Lilette?”

“No, just this boy from English…” He shifted, scared that revealing anything more about Jeremy would also reveal his quick thoughts and conclusions about the boy.

“A bo-, I mean, what’s his name?” She asked, her interest peeked.

“Jeremy,” Simon glued his eyes to his shoes. “I’ve only met him last week.”

“Alright, that’s okay. You can study with him.” Mrs. Saunders shrugged. “Well, I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

He remained standing motionless in front of the stairs, until he heard his mother downstairs, opening and closing the fridge, awakening him to move to his room. He threw himself onto his bed, pulling out his phone, and opening his text messages, ready to send a message to Jeremy that he could study Saturday night.

“’Hey Jeremy,’” Simon drafted, reading it out loud for a second. “Er… ‘It’s Simon. I can study Saturday night. What time?’” He pressed send with his hand over his forehead, nervous even though it was more informational than anything else. Nothing personal. Anyone could read this text and never know he was interested in this boy.

A few minutes passed with him staring at his phone. No response… no response… _Respond_. He repeated to himself.

_Finally_ , he thought to himself when he saw the text pop up. “7:30?” _That’s it?_ Simon thought.

He began typing back, “Sure, do you want to meet at my house?” He pressed send, and again, head on forehead.

“That or I can pick you up and we can also get food at this great coffee/bakery place? A lot of people study there.” Jeremy replied.

Simon’s stomach jumped while his mind reached the conclusion that this was something like a study date that neither of them claimed aloud. ‘That works! I’ll see you tomorrow.’ _Sounds terrible,_ he thought about what to say for a moment longer before pressing send anyway.

* * *

 

I hope you guys enjoyed it so far! I hope it’s not far-fetched or ooc. Tell me what you guys think!!

Requests are always open!

Shoutout to those that followed. elsker deg! xoxo


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 7:25 Arrival

Simon woke up to hit the snooze alarm three times on his phone. The alarm rang out at full volume, so it reached outside his door also. His mother eventually came in to wake him up, agitated at the noise. “Wake up Simon.”

“I was dreaming,” he mumbled, not conscious of what he was saying. “Jeremy was-,” he cut himself off, realizing his mother was standing in front of him. “What time is it?” He asked, jumping to sit upright while reaching for his phone on his bedside table.

“9:30,” Mrs. Saunders replied, recovering from any confusion caused by his words about any dream. “You’ve been trying to wake up since 8!” She added with exasperation, leaving with a quick shut of the door.

He shuffled out of bed, grabbing new clothes and walking to his bathroom. Hopefully _I didn’t seem too… too whatever._ Simon thought, remembering his remark about his dream. It wasn’t even a sentence.  _Maybe I should suggest Lilette comes tonight too, just to_ be make _sure I won’t do anything stupid. But she’s not in our class so it wouldn’t make sense._ He inwardly groaned, talking himself in and out of things. He placed a hand to his forehead.

What was he going to do until 7:30? He had nothing to do but practice for his upcoming audition, even if he was sure he’d get a lead role anyhow. He was one of the only boys to ever audition. However, deciding he should practice, he sat down on his bed with his laptop, beginning to scroll through lyrics after lyrics.

* * *

 

After eating dinner with his family, Simon could only tap his foot to pass time. It was past seven. His father sat on the couch opposite him, switching through the news and religious programs on the television. Simon stared at his copy of Romeo and Juliet and his papers for homework. The homework would be simple, easy, once he understood the dialogue of the script.

“Could you stop tapping your foot, Simon?” Mr. Saunders glanced over at Simon. “Why’re you so anxious about meeting this boy for homework? I’ve never seen you this worked up.”

“I’m not,” Simon replied with an expression that was too serious to convince his father.

“You look anxious. If you’re worried he’s going to get you into some trouble somehow, maybe you shouldn’t meet him. Maybe you should stay home.” His father arched an eyebrow. Simon dreaded when his dad talked like this.

“No! It’s not that,” Simon answered. “He’s perfectly fine. And we’re only doing homework.” Of course, everyone outside of our church is a threat to my well-being for eternity. Simon thought, unsure if he was serious or sarcastic. He wanted to be serious: to think that the only people he wanted to associate with were in a church, but that would never be true.

“I want to meet him before you go, okay?” His father pressed, interrupting Simon’s thoughts and finally getting an okay from Simon.

“If it’s so important to you,” Simon nodded, becoming more unsettled at the thought. “I’m going to wait upstairs.” He rushed out of the room and saw the clock hit 7:25. Before he could even make it to the step, he heard a knock at the door. It must’ve been Jeremy. _Early_ , he thought. _Knows not to be late…_

He rushed to the living room to grab his bag full of papers and the play, to meet him at the door. His father was already ushering him to answer the door also. He looked stern as Simon grappled the door open nervously.

“Hey, Jeremy,” Simon greeted, glancing up at his father before stepping out of the house. “Uhm, this is my father.”

Jeremy smiled, “Hello, Mr. Saunders.” He held out his hand which Mr. Saunders shook rather reluctantly.

“You two have a good night, I’ll wait up for you Simon.” His father said, not saying an entire hello to Jeremy, which only added to Simon’s discomfort. His father shut the door after another moment of no response from either boys.

“Sorry,” Simon said once they were in the car. “My father’s worried about everyone I meet… I think it’s because he doesn’t believe most people outside of our church have good intentions – I don’t think that, by the way.” He felt like he owed an explanation for his father’s somewhat bashful behavior at the door.

“It’s fine, Simon,” Jeremy shrugged. “What have you read in Romeo and Juliet so far?”

“I’ve finished Act 1.” Simon told him, _maybe this is about studying for real… No, it clearly always was_. “Where are we going?” He attempted to change the topic a little, knowing they’d be talking about the homework later on anyhow, and he wanted Jeremy to be more than just an English classmate, even if it was only knowing his favorite coffee place.

“It’s called Axum,” Jeremy told him. “We can sit outside if you want, so we could read aloud.”

“That’d be good.” Simon agreed.

Upon arrival, Simon and Jeremy ordered their drinks and pastries. Jeremy ordered a caffè mocha while Simon ordered a pastry. After, Jeremy led the way outside to a patio lit with strings of light bulbs hanging, all emitting different colors. Jeremy picked the far corner of the patio, away from the door and where most people were seated.

“I’ll read the Montague parts while you read the Capulet’s?” Jeremy suggested, opening his copy of the play which was marked and highlighted with notes. Simon nodded. “I’ll explain as we go through it if you have any questions. We can always look at sparknotes too.” Jeremy smiled at the mention of sparknotes, knowing full well he could’ve told Simon to look at sparknotes if he wanted to, instead of going out with him.

“Sure,” Simon melted at Jeremy’s smile, unknowingly to the other boy. “The first line is Romeo’s.”

Jeremy read the first scene, where Benvolio and Mercutio talk and how Romeo climbs the wall to the balcony. Simon had to eventually look away, away from Jeremy that is, during the second scene as his cheeks turned red, hearing Jeremy say such nice words. Of course they weren’t directed to him but the invisible Juliet.

“Simon are you listening?” Jeremy asked as Simon didn’t recite the lines after he finished.

“Oh, yeah!” Simon hurried, looking down at his copy. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name; Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Jeremy continued with the scene, “Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?”

The two talked with no more conversation in between the lines until Jeremy recited the line, “Th’ exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine.”

Simon recited, “I gave thee mine before thou didst request it, And yet I would it were to give again.”

“Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose, love?” Jeremy continued.

“But to be frank, and give it thee again.” Simon couldn’t help but stare at Jeremy as he recited the lines.

“Do you understand, Simon?” Jeremy asked abruptly, breaking in-between Simon’s lines.

“Yes, they’re exchanging vows practically, and Juliet’s saying she promised to love him even before he asked her to.” Simon forced himself to look away again, not wanting to show Jeremy any more potential that he was affectionate towards him; although he already knew his staring was probably obvious and making Jeremy agitated.

“Yeah, so this act is basically… them getting married which will create the future problems. For English class I guess you could say, it would be the rising action…” Jeremy paused, trailing off, looking at Simon becoming ‘less obviously into him,’ “Are you okay, you keep looking off into space? Is something bothering you?”

“What? No, no, I’m listening. Rising action,” Simon nodded, the words tumbling out quickly as he pushed his eyes to meet Jeremy’s again. _Great, now he thinks you’re not even into him as a friend_. “Should we, uh, continue?”

“Sure,” Jeremy said in a quieter voice as Simon began continuing to recite the lines. With Romeo’s lines though, his voice grew more and more confident.

Finally, they had gone through the whole act, which took over a half an hour with Jeremy explaining in between the lines. Jeremy eventually pulled out the homework and began writing in the columns. “We’re suppose to show what lines develop their personalities and explain how they develop the personalities. If you haven’t read the homework yet.”

“I’ve read it,” Simon reassured him, taking out his own paper. “They are both such romantics.” He said lightly.

“I think it’s sweet,” Jeremy glanced up from his writing to pierce Simon with his light eyes, making Simon flounder in his words for a moment. “Or at least mostly, I personally would never marry anyone after a day.” He laughed at the thought.

“Yeah, I find it hard to believe they would have brought marriage up so quickly, especially being star-crossed.” Simon replied, staring back at his homework again. He was writing down one of Romeo’s lines.

“There could’ve been no chance for the relationship to continue if they didn’t dive right in then though,” Jeremy reasoned. “It was like a swim or drown situation!”

Simon nodded, stopping his pencil to look at him again. The conversation died with that, even if Simon wanted it to continue, he didn’t know what to say to that. _‘Sure?’ Or do I say, we should do that_ _too_? – _Shut up!_

“I’m going to get another food – pastry, I mean.” Simon stood up quickly, grabbing his plate. It was an awkward, sudden movement. He rushed into the restaurant.

“You’re giving him the wrong signals at least,” Simon mumbled to himself. You don’t like him like that. You’re clearly paranoid! He placed the plate on a stack of others, exiting again before he thought of purchasing a pastry like he said.

“I thought you were going to buy a pastry?” Jeremy questioned.

“Oh, right,” Simon searched his pockets for a moment, for his wallet. “I think I left it–.”

“I can buy it for you,” Jeremy said, standing eagerly. “I saw you put your wallet in your backpack earlier though, just saying.” He informed the other boy, leading the way to the restaurant again. “Do you want to share a drink also? It doesn’t have to be coffee if you don’t like that – like hot chocolate?” Jeremy added, walking to the counter.

Simon nodded with a blank mind, “Sure, thank you… thanks.” Simon repeated to make sure he sounded sincere.

“Do you want another croissant or…?” Jeremy added.

“Oh, yeah,” Simon placed his hand to his forehead. _Why is he being so nice? This is really difficult, why can’t he be hard to like! Stop being so charming, please._

“Awesome,” he said before turning to the register and telling the cashier their order.

Once Jeremy had carried the drink and croissant back to their table, it was nearly nine.

Jeremy completed his homework while Simon was still writing about Mercutio, the last character he had to analyze and quote. Meanwhile, Jeremy was asking about musical theater.

“So Mr. Mazzu is the new musical director?” Jeremy asked.

“Yep.”

“Do you think he’ll be good? What musical are you doing?” Jeremy asked.

“Um, I think he’ll be good. I just hope he’s not strict in his views of interpreting scenes… I have no idea what musical we’re doing still. It won’t be announced for another week or so, I think.” He said while writing down a second quotation.

“I was thinking of auditioning actually,” Jeremy shrugged, catching Simon’s eye again.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I grew up listening to musicals,” Jeremy added. “Plus, I’ve always been a decent actor. At least I think. What do you think?”

“How good of an actor you are?”

“Uh, no. Should I audition?”

“Oh! – I mean, you should try out, there aren’t a lot of guys in theater with me. The girls would go crazy over you.” Simon was staring up from his homework again and his last sentence sounded as though he were either greedy or jealous. Either way, he almost instantly regretted it when Jeremy’s smile faded.

“I’m,” Jeremy broke off for a few seconds, unsure of what he should say. “I probably shouldn’t say this to you, because I know you’re religious and… But I don’t really like girls.” He waited for whatever reaction was going to take place. “ _Oh, I have to call my dad. I’m going home.” “Are you trying to get with me?” “You’re going to hell_.” Jeremy thought of all the possible conclusions, most of them heart-wrenching but he had decided over a year ago that he wouldn’t view being gay as some sort of package anymore or something to be ashamed of.

Simon stared at him for a few seconds, and the only thought that was going through his head was like a fire alarm, _He’s not straight!_ He didn’t know if his own thoughts were positive or negative. He couldn’t cipher through his own mind. “That’s okay,” was all Simon said.

“I should take you home,” Jeremy said, looking down at his backpack in his lap. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up.” His voice hesitated at several points in his sentence as he stood up.

“But I haven’t finished,” Simon raised his eyebrows. “We were here to do homework, right? Let’s at least finish, Jeremy… Jeremy, I don’t care.”

“Um, are you sure?” Jeremy looked back at him at last, his face flinching somewhat. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I don’t think you have the ability to make anyone uncomfortable,” Simon breathed. Jeremy gave a shy smile, taking his seat once more.

Simon then looked back at his graphic organizer, he needed one more quotation. “Now, Mercutio… The last quotation… What about, ‘Why that same pale hard-hearted wrench, that Rosaline, torments him so, that he will sure run mad.’ This quotation… can show he’s rather loyal to Romeo… and that he dislikes the idea of love ruling his sanity…?” He looked questioningly up at Jeremy to see if that sounded alright.  
“It sounds alright. Mr. Mazzu will say it’s ‘insightful.’” Jeremy smirked finally, Simon staring at his lips.

Simon pushed his face down to write in his neat cursive and copy the quote. “There,” Simon stashed away his paper and pencil. “We can go now.” Jeremy pulled out his keys as Simon said, “Thanks for the hot chocolate and pastry by the way… And the homework help of course.”

"It was fun,” Jeremy relaxed as they walked towards the car. “Maybe we could do it again – if you wanted to, of course?”

“For Act 3, we could,” Simon agreed. “And I’ll keep you posted about the musical auditions. Mr. Mazzu will probably go on about it in class though.” Simon smirked as he remembered Mr. Mazzu had mentioned the auditions in their last class, clearly trying to rally as many students to audition.

* * *

 

I hope you guys enjoyed it!! Sorry it took a few days to upload, but school, you know. Thanks for following again and the feedback? elsker deg xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're paranoid.

Words: Around 1,300. Warnings: Internal Homophobia and Questioning Sexuality (should I put this as a warning? Cause I used to deal with that and it was always hard, even to read about it, so…!)

Rise, NBC, Siremy. 

I heard about the show getting canceled!!! I’m so sad, I hope we can get them to continue with it. :( Anyhow, enjoy!!

“You’re home late,” Simon’s father commented as he entered the front door, Simon looking breathless for a mere second. His mother must have gone up to sleep or she would’ve been sitting with his father.

The boy regained himself, shrugging as he began to walk towards the stairs. “You haven’t told me how it was yet though, Simon.” The voice rang through the room, sounding near-friendly but Simon wasn’t sure he trusted him, especially after how he acted while meeting Jeremy.

He wouldn’t tell him about their conversations or anything real about the night at least.  _There’s nothing wrong with someone telling you they’re gay. It just wouldn’t sound good to him… Don’t tell him about that._ “It was fine,” Simon sounded, shrugging. “We finished the homework, ate…”

“Did you spend all the money I gave you?” He asked.

“No,” Simon rolled his eyes, digging his hand into his pocket to retrieve the extra five dollars he had.  _So, that was why he wanted to talk to me._ “Here. I’m going to bed.”

* * *

Monday morning arrived slowly. After church on Sunday, Simon felt like a weight had been placed on his stomach, even onto his shoulders as he slumped to get ready for school. Neither of his parents had noticed his mood yet, but he had only seen them for breakfast. Now he was in his car listening to Les Misérables in a volume his parents would be irritated by. He couldn’t help it, he didn’t want to think about anything for at least ten minutes. His mind was constantly being bugged with religion, school, and things  _that aren’t true. You’re just confused._

He turned the music down as he stopped at Lilette’s to give her a ride to school.

“Morning,” she jumped into the seat next to him.

“Morning,” Simon said, forcing himself to plaster a smile onto his face. “How was your weekend?”

“Fine,” Lilette answered. “I’ve been working like crazy. I haven’t finished my homework yet.” She sighed, pulling out what he hoped was her last assignment. “I don’t have to give it in until after lunch.”

Simon nodded. “That’s good, at least you have time to work on it then. Is that all you have left?”

“Mhm,” she took out a sharp pencil also. “What was your weekend like?”

“I went to church,” he recited. “I didn’t do much else… I mean, I met Jeremy though,” he played it off cool, like last time he was in the car with her, not wanting to catch any unwanted, excited attention about his meeting, even if somewhere inside him he also wanted the attention on Jeremy.

“How was he?” Lilette asked, peering up from her homework.

“He was okay,” Simon turned his head to look in the mirrors instead of allowing Lilette to see his face.

“Just okay?” Lilette exhaled dramatically. “Did you read the Acts together?”

“Yeah,” Simon thought. “I read the Capulet parts and he read the Montague parts… And we ate. He bought me a croissant and shared his drink which was,” he paused, remembering, “really nice. Kind.”

“Wow, you never share any of your food with me!” Her voice sounded mock-offended.

“That’s because it wasn’t mine,” Simon smiled. “He didn’t eat any of my croissant.”

“Okay, okay,” Lilette pretended defeat. “So, what’s  _he_ like?”

Simon glanced at her as though asking  _Why would you ask that? No, no – that’s a normal question! She asked that about Gwen too… You’re paranoid._ “He’s fine. He wants to do the musical this year possibly… He’s smart though – I mean obviously because he helped me with homework but…” He stopped talking, as he paused driving at a stop sign as well.

“You trailed off, Si,” Lilette stared at him momentarily, his eyes focusing on the road determinedly as he began pressing the pedal for gas again.

“Oh – I mean, he asks a lot of questions too,” Simon finished.

“Is that a good thing, to you? Him asking questions?” Lilette asked.

“You ask a lot of questions too, and you’re still friends with me, so it must be a good trait for anyone that wants to be my friend… Although you’re both a bit nosy.” He snorted.

“I am not!” Lilette grinned. “I just like knowing about your life because we’re  _friends!”_

“Mhm,  _o-kay,”_ Simon turned into the school, nodding, as he finished the subject. “So, how’s it been going on with you and – who do you like…?”

“I don’t have time to like anybody,” Lilette shrugged. “Maybe if someone turns up, that’d be cool. But there’s nobody right now.”

“Maybe you should join the musical and meetsomeone _.”_ Simon suggested, pulling for her to join the musical again.

“You already recruited someone to join your musical, Simon,” Lilette tilted her head, pulling her backpack on, as they pulled into a parking spot. “Maybe I’ll try out if Mr. Mazzu chooses a good choice.”

“Alright,” Simon turned off the car, sighing. As he pushed the door open, he subconsciously hunched his shoulders.

* * *

He passed his first two periods with exhausting boredom. Math, chemistry, and now English. At least he had something to look forward to in this period. Mr. Mazzu always brought up the musical one way or another and he would be able to talk to Jeremy.  _It’s not that I look forward to seeing Jeremy, it’s just that I want to give him an update, also, on the musical…_ He blatantly lied to himself as he found his seat in the classroom that day. Mr. Mazzu was already beginning the class when Simon noticed Jeremy wasn’t in the seat next to him.

_Odd, he’s always early._ Simon looked around to see if maybe Jeremy had broken the seating rule to his horror. But he didn’t see any boy with as bad fashion sense.

“We’ll be going over Act…” Mr. Mazzu began but Simon had mostly tuned him out.

_Maybe he’s sick,_  Simon thought just as the door swung open. Jeremy had come in looking breathless.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said awkwardly as Mr. Mazzu’s attention was drawn to the boy. Everyone’s head turned to look at him.

“It’s alright,” Mr. Mazzu nodded as Jeremy passed through the maze of chairs. “As I was saying…”

Jeremy sat down, throwing his backpack down quietly.

“Hey,” Simon whispered. Jeremy gave a brief nod before grabbing a notebook and pencil.

Simon frowned before he caught himself. Jeremy didn’t want added attention.  _Only because he was late,_ his mind reprimanded.  _But why the hell would you care! He’s not even your friend, you only studied together._ His mind dared him to tell himself the truth. He dreaded thinking the word that lurked somewhere deep inside his mind, so he turned his attention to Mr. Mazzu at last.

* * *

His eyes had been watching every second of the clock tick by. The end of the lesson came slowly but Mr. Mazzu finally clapped his hands together. “One last thing for any of you that may be interested in the musical this year… We’re doing Spring Awakening and auditions are next week!” Mr. Mazzu continued to dismiss the class as Simon became distracted with the new information.

_What?_ Simon thought, shocked.  _The one with that album cover?_

“That’s a great musical,” Simon heard Jeremy say to Mr. Mazzu at last. Simon cocked his head to look at the two discussing the musical. “I think I’ll audition.” Jeremy continued.

As the two finished discussing the musical, Jeremy continued to grab his backpack with one swift motion and left the classroom without looking back, not even saying goodbye to Simon.

Simon was left alone except for Mr. Mazzu so he also retrieved his items to leave.  _No goodbye? Or hello?_ Simon thought, frustrated.  _He’s ignoring me. He probably thinks I’m just like my father!_ He fidgeted with his hands for a moment before pulling them to his side and leaving the classroom, sighed loudly so that other students gave him perplexed glances.

* * *

Thank you for reading!! :) and for all the comments and follows, you guys are awesome <3 elsker deg! xoxo

I also saw someone ask if I were Norwegian. Both sets of my grandparents are but we live in the United States now. I also love Skam!


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